VIII

At first, everything was a blur. Then slowly, the swirls began to solidify into recognisable shapes, and the shapes became a landscape. Susan found herself in a place unlike any she had ever seen before. She was standing atop a flat mesa in the midst of a huge semi-arid tableland. For miles around, all she could see were deeply eroded gorges and countless more flat-topped mountains. She imagined that the Grand Canyon, which she had heard about during her stay in America, looked something like this.

Much of the land was barren. There were yellow and red sandstone cliffs with much exposed rock and sand. Dotted throughout were hardy-looking bushes and shrubs and small patches of dry grass. Far below, flowed a meandering river. Along its banks, the bushes gave way to taller trees and the vegetation became a little thicker.

Susan couldn't tell where she was. No part of Narnia, or the surrounding lands had looked anything like this. She wondered whether she was in some place further north of the Wildlands where the giants lived. She hoped, with a shudder, that there were no giants living here. If there were, they would be bigger, wilder and more dangerous than those Peter had defeated back in the Golden Age of Narnia.

Despite its dry aspect and harsh appearance, this countryside gave Susan a sense of peace. It was almost like a reflection of her soul – and seemed to express how she had felt ever since the accident (and perhaps even before). Because of this, in a strange way, it comforted her. She wondered why she had arrived here, and whether there would be anything for her to do. Besides the occasional bird, there seemed to be no other life. She wondered whether she'd have make a long journey on her own before she would find any civilised life.

She wished again that the guinea-pig had come with her, but remembered that she needed him to stay behind with the ring. She also wondered what would have happened if she had let David come; but that was all in the past. Now it was just Susan alone. This was her quest – the way it should be.

Susan surveyed the plateau of the mesa she had arrived on and decided to explore a little. If she could find some way down, she could try and get to the river, which might eventually lead to some sort of settlement (if such existed in this place). If nothing else, it would be cooler down there and, and she might even find some food as well as water. She noticed that the hot sun was vertically above her, indicating that it was still around midday.

She slowly started to make her way around the circuit of the plateau. It was not large, and she would be able to cover it within an hour. In most places, the cliffs were so sheer that there was absolutely no way down. In one place, there seemed to be a very narrow and steep path that would take her part of the way down. But after it rounded a bend, she could not see any further, and it was possibly a dead-end with another steep cliff below.

As Queen in Narnia, Susan had done much travelling. But she had preferred to travel by horseback through flat country, and she had certainly never encountered such rough terrain. The only time she had travelled through mountains was in Archenland. But those mountains had had pleasant slopes which horses could navigate, and they had always taken well-defined paths. Later, as children returning to Narnia, Susan and her siblings had had to navigate through the tangled and overgrown forest on their way to find Aslan's How and assist Prince Caspian. But even that was a vastly different challenge compared to what faced her now.

Besides, it was years since she had been the adventurous Queen Susan, and even the child Susan from the days of Prince Caspian. Now, as a woman who had been more concerned about her dress and make-up than anything adventurous, the thought of attempting that path alone was more than she could bear. And even if this path did lead all the way to the canyon floor, there was no way of knowing whether it was safe. The loose stones lying on its surface might slide away from under her feet at any moment.

After completing the circuit of the plateau and finding nothing more promising than that steep path, Susan sat down to rest under the sparse shade of a thorny bush. It protected her a little from the harsh sun, but she was already exhausted from her brief walk. She tried to think of another way that she might be able get down, but she knew that it was hopeless. Remembering that she had had nothing to eat since that apple in the Wood, she took out a little food and sipped some of her water. She was very careful with the water, knowing that if she couldn't get down to the river, it might have to sustain her for sometime.

*-*-*-*

Just as she was preparing to get up and make another circuit, she detected a slight movement in the corner of her eye.

“Well I've never seen any like you around here before,” said a squeaky voice behind her. As she turned to look, a hedgehog made its way from behind the bush. “Do you speak?” it asked.

Susan stared at the creature for some time. Her heart quickened as it awakened the hope that she had made it into Narnia after all. But this hedgehog was unlike any she had seen in Narnia or even in England. It was smaller than the Narnian variety, though still larger than the non-speaking type. It's spikes were dark, almost black, and it's face dark brown with a more pointed nose. The most striking thing about it was its ears. They were dark like his fur, and much bigger and flatter than those of a normal hedgehog. Susan got the impression that this animal was well-suited to this dry environment.

“Of course I speak,” said Susan with a laugh, “I'm human!” The hedgehog cocked its head sideways, perking its ears. “You're a what? I've never heard of those before. And what a funny covering you have,” he said, eyeing her clothes, “It doesn't look like fur, feathers or scales. You must be a unique creature, like us with out spikes.” He spoke with apparent pride. “But I can't even begin to imagine its use.”

Susan didn't know how to respond. “Have you honestly never seen a human before? Not even heard of us? Where in the worlds is this place?” The hedgehog continued to watch her. “Well, I've not ever head of you by that name, do you not have another?” Susan was about to reply that her name was Susan, when she realised that that was not what he had meant.

“That's the most common name,” answered Susan, trying to think. She avoided using the term person, as other species (such as the dwarfs) considered themselves people in Narnia. “We have men and women, boys and girls,” she tried, remembering that Mr Tumnus and the beavers had known the words boy and girl. “Some have called us 'Sons of Adam' and 'Daughters of Eve'.”

The hedgehog stopped, and looked at her with great surprise and even awe. “You're a daughter of Eve! Why didn't you say so at first? The Great One be praised! That I should ever live to see a daughter of Eve.” The hedgehog made a flattening motion that might have been a bow.

Now Susan was speechless. This was not the first time she had received such a reaction to that title, but this time she was on her own – and she was a little worried as to what might be required of her.

*-*-*-*

An awkward silence ensued. Suddenly the hedgehog remembered himself and stood up. “But come,” he said, “I must take you at once to see the others. Susan wasn't sure whether to inquire further or simply follow the hedgehog's lead until she had a better idea of what was happening. She remembered that in Narnia not all creatures had been friendly or good. Her brother Edmund had trusted the first person he met in Narnia, and nearly paid for it with his life. Hedgehogs were always good creatures in Narnia, if a little absent minded, but this hedgehog was different. She reminded herself to be wary and alert.

“Who exactly are these others,” Susan asked, as a cautious question. The hedgehog looked at her quizzically. “Why the Council, of course,” he answered. “The population here is sparse, and many creatures keep to themselves these days. But there's a group of us who live here under the shadow of The Eagle's Table. While most creatures have formed new lives for themselves, abandoning all memory of the days before the Desertion, we do remember, and we believe that the land will be restored and all creatures reunited under one ruler. In those days, The Great One will be seen among us again.”

The hedgehog said these words with reverence and awe in his voice. Susan tried to read his face. If this was Narnia, why did he call him “The Great One” and not “Aslan” or “The Lion”. She knew that not all nations in Narnia's world acknowledged Aslan's rule. In the Southern Realm of Calormen, they had worshipped various gods, especially Tash. Who knows what kind of superstitions they might have in this stricken land where humans were unknown? She desperately wanted to ask whether or not she was in fact in Narnia's world, but something stopped her. If this was a land that belonged to one of Narnia's enemies, admitting knowledge of the country could be dangerous. She decided to hold back the question for a little longer.

“Daughter of Eve?” interrupted the hedgehog, pulling Susan out of her reverie, “Are you okay? You look feint.” Susan gulped and nodded. She didn't want the hedgehog to know she distrusted him. “Oh, you poor dear,” he suddenly said, changing his attitude. “You look tired and hungry. Let's have something to eat and then make our way down."

Down? Susan gulped. She was going to have to get off this mesa somehow, but was worried about what route the creature might take. And she was reluctant to accept food from an unknown person (especially after Ed's disastrous encounter all those years ago). She also wondered how he could produce anything edible on this dry mountaintop, short of using magic. Her uneasiness grew.

Suddenly he snuffled off for a bit and returned with what was apparently meant to be food. To her relief, the hedgehog accepted her insistence that she eat something from her own bag. He was slightly dismayed that she turned down the juicy worms and grasshopper that he had caught in favour of some dry rock-like substance she carried in her bag, but he figured that she was a strange creature and that kind of thing was to be expected.

While they were eating, Susan asked where they would be going and how they would get off the mesa. He assured her that there was a “relatively” safe path down. One simply had to know where to look for it. As they sat talking and eating, Susan began to relax ever so slightly. This hedgehog, whose name, as she had learned during the course of the conversation, was Hedegar, seemed friendly enough. But she reminded herself to stay alert for any tricks.

After lunch Hedegar led her to a large boulder adjacent to a thorny bush. She had thought that there was simply a sheer cliff behind the boulder, but it turned out, if one knew where to look, one would find a path which began on the other side. It was something of a challenge for Susan to crawl under the bush where it brushed against the boulder (a task that had been easy enough for the little hedgehog).

She emerged from the undergrowth, not without a few scratches, and immediately pulled up short. Was the hedgehog leading her to her death? But then she realised that what looked like a steep cliff, was really only a shallow ledge. Hedegar had to jump to get down it, Susan needed simply to swing her legs over, and her feet reached solid rock. After that, the land flattened, and she realised that despite it's narrowness, that path followed a gentle and winding slope down towards the river.

The journey was long, but not as difficult as Susan had imagined. Some sections required extra caution, but the hedgehog was a good guide, and Susan began to realise that, while occasionally his small size gave Hedegar the advantage (like crawling under the thorn bush), it was for the most part easier for her. If he could do it, so could she.

Darkness was already well settled into the valley, when the hedgehog finally allowed her to stop. If not from the exertion of the downward climb, she would have been freezing. Her companion informed her that they would never reach their destination near the river unless they travelled all night. He suggested that they spend the night in a well sheltered and surprisingly comfortable cave.

Susan would have preferred to have a fire, but though she had matches, firewood was scarce in that land, and she was too tired. She put on the long warm jacket which she had shoved into the backpack and rolled up her spare clothes for a pillow. This was by far the most uncomfortable bed she had ever had (since her early childhood days in Narnia), but she was tired enough to fall asleep. She did envy the hedgehog, however, who was more accustomed to sleeping on the ground.

No comments:

Post a Comment

<div style="text-align: center;"> I</div>

Susan Pevensie woke with a start. She'd been dreaming. As consciousness edged it's way into her foggy mind, she remembered where ...